Today, he’s known as a major movie star, but Tom Hanks actually got his start on a 1980s sitcom that launched his career. “Bosom Buddies” introduced mass audiences to the actor, but “Happy Days” arguably had almost as big a hand in propelling him to true stardom. Hanks, who has essentially become the everyman Daniel Day-Lewis, guest-starred in the fifth episode of the show’s 10th season, “A Little Case of Revenge,” where he became infamous for playing a character who became the first person to ever hit the great Arthur Fonzarelli (Henry Winkler). That guest spot also brought Hanks to the attention of two individuals that would give him his big screen breakthrough just two years later.
By season 10, “Happy Days” was at an odd point in its evolution. Original star Ron Howard — who played Richie Cunningham for seven seasons — had long since departed, leaving Winkler’s Fonzie and several new cast additions to lead the show. That transition wasn’t entirely smooth, though the series did last a full four seasons after Howard’s departure. “A Little Case of Revenge” aired in November 1982 during the show’s penultimate season, and fairly soon after, “Bosom Buddies” ended its run in March of that year.
The episode saw Hanks portray Dr. Dwayne Twitchell, a psychiatrist who was pushed off a swing by Fonzie at the age of eight and who never got over it. In “A Little Case of Revenge,” Twitchell returns to take revenge on Fonzie, and while he never truly got what he came for, he did become the first ever character to strike Winkler’s greaser, thereby cementing himself as one of the most memorable guest characters in the show’s history (and Hanks as one of the most memorable guest stars).
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Tom Hanks was the first man to hit Fonzie
Henry Winkler as Arthur Fonzarelli stands opposite Tom Hanks as Dr. Dwayne Twitchell in Happy Days – ABC
In “A Little Case of Revenge,” things come to a head inside Arnold’s Drive-in when Dr. Dwayne Twitchell, dressed in full karate attire, attacks an aloof Fonzie and proceeds to destroy much of the diner interior in the process. All of this is watched by a horrified Arnold, as played by Pat Morita (who made his debut as Mr. Miyagi in “The Karate Kid” the same year Hanks donned his own gi for “Happy Days,” despite the fact that studio executives initially didn’t want Morita for the movie). After Fonzie gives Twitchell a free shot, the doctor kicks him through a window in a moment that elicited an audible gasp from the studio audience as they expressed the collective shock of TV viewers nationwide.
It might seem silly decades later, but the Fonz taking a hit was a big deal for kids who had grown up idolizing the character as the untouchable epitome of cool. Nobody had ever hit Fonzie before, and Hanks doing so in vivid slow-mo really was a notable moment for the show and its fans. Of course, the series’ writers weren’t about to let the character go down that easily, and Fonzie soon saunters back into the diner where he appears to be preparing for retaliation, only to tell Twitchell, “You stood up to the Fonz. I like that.”
Hanks’ obvious commitment to the role made it a memorable performance, which, when coupled with his character actually laying hands on Fonzie, made the episode unforgettable. But it also might just have given Hanks a movie career.
Kicking Fonzie through a window launched Tom Hanks’ movie career
Henry Winkler as Arthur Fonzarelli shakes hands with Tom Hanks as Dr. Dwayne Twitchell in Happy Days – ABC
In the early ’80s, Disney launched its new distribution label designed to release films for more mature audiences: Touchstone Pictures. The first film on that label was “Splash,” a fantasy rom-com that starred Daryl Hannah as a mermaid who comes ashore and falls in love with New Yorker Allen Bauer, played by Tom Hanks. The director? Richie Cunningham himself, Ron Howard.
As such, you might think the former “Happy Days” star caught Hanks’ guest performance and was convinced to cast him in his mermaid movie. Well, that’s not exactly how it went. “Splash” co-writers Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel had once worked as writers on “Happy Days” and it was these two who remembered the actor from their time on the show.
As Hanks told Jess Cagle back in 2023, “The guys who were the head writers on ‘Happy Days’ at that time, Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel […] said, ‘Hey, this guy who kicked Fonzie through a plate-glass window might be good.’ And so I ended up auditioning for ‘Splash.'” According to the actor, “no one wanted to work for Disney” at the time, which was partly what prompted Ganz and Mandel to reach out to him at such an early stage in his career. Once the duo recommended Hanks to Howard’s assistant, the star-in-the-making auditioned almost immediately and landed the role. When the film proved successful, Hanks’ movie career began in earnest — none of which would have happened had he not booted Fonzie through a window.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.
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